better, maybe they lived in a part of america, particularly a rule area, or an older industrialized city, where the economy has just not come back as rapidly as it is in some, in better-off parts of the country. this is a circumstance that people are in largely because of their region, not because of laziness, certainly. and also, not because of race or age or all the other factors. those factors are always there, and they're always important. but there are some really targeted regional sufferings that are taking place. >> let's be honest here. you mentioned race, gender, we can talk about class. those are the factors that have not motivated many americans to be as empathetic as they might otherwise be. but you would think that the notion that somebody they knew, some uncles, some cousins, some person in your family who's out of work through no fault or his or her own would at least garner the everyone think of these folk in congress. why hasn't it worked? >> i think they've written these folks off. and you've written about this, and you know well, that the politics of america is defined